RESTON, VA - June 25, 2008 - Topics ranging from terrestrial LIDAR to successful mergers and acquisitions, from FAA ramp checks for aerial data acquisition aircraft modifications to boresights and calibration and from a market forecast from Microsoft's Virtual Earth to a members only session on privacy issues affecting aerial and satellite imagery are all on the agenda for the MAPPS Annual Summer Meeting to be held July 19-23, 2008 at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho.

The conference will open with a keynote address by Alexander Weichert, Business Director of Microsoft Photogrammetry on the opportunities available to the geospatial and photogrammetric community through Microsoft Virtual Earth. Weichert's address is a continuation from the MAPPS 2008 Winter Conference, during which keynote speaker Jack Dangermond of ESRI forecasted his view for the future of the geospatial community and what can be expected in technical and market advances.

Conference attendees will learn about business trends, including acquisitions from large firm and small firm perspectives, on-line human resource assessment tools, and client relation management software, and how GIS technology is creating more complete business opportunities. Technical sessions include establishing boresight and calibration process for aerial imagery and LIDAR sensors, as well as mobile mapping and terrestrial LIDAR applications.

"Once again the MAPPS Program Committee has assembled an informative and educational agenda for the Summer Conference. The topics of discussion focus on issues and concerns that not only affect the MAPPS membership, but the entire geospatial community," said John Palatiello, MAPPS Executive Director. "MAPPS continues to provide the technical, business, management and marketing information that principals, owners, partners and senior professional executives from the community's leading firms need in today's economy."

Included in the program is an update of the National Geospatial Advisory Council (NGAC) from, NGAC Chairman and MAPPS Director Anne Hale Miglarese, Booz Allen Hamilton. Ms. Miglarese will update conference attendees on the progress of the NGAC as well as seek feedback from the private sector on the initiatives set by the council.

MAPPS will announce the winners of the second annual "MAPPS Geospatial Products and Services Excellence Awards" at the Awards Banquet July 22. The entries were reviewed by a distinguished panel of judges chaired by Robert Burtch, PS, CP, Professor of Surveying Engineering at Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Michigan. The awards will be presented in four categories: airborne and satellite data acquisition; photogrammetry/elevation data generation; remote sensing and GIS/IT; with a Grand Award winner being selected from one of the four category winners.

The conference is open to senior executives and professionals from all private firms in the geospatial profession, including those who are not currently MAPPS members. However, there is a significant registration fee discount for MAPPS member firm principals.

MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States. Current MAPPS memberships span the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Active Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, hydrography, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS also includes Associate Member Firms, which are companies that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United States and other firms from around the world. MAPPS provides its members opportunities for networking and developing business-to-business relationships, information sharing, education, public policy advocacy, market growth, and professional development and image enhancement. For more information on MAPPS, please visit
www.MAPPS.org.